Window washing device



1964 P. F. D] cosTANzo wmnow WASHING DEVICE Filed March 13, 1963 INVENTOR.

4 TTORNEYS United States Patent G 3,120,672 WINDOW WASHING DEVICE Pasquale F. Di Costanzo, 618 17th St., Brooklyn, NY. Filed Mar. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 264,823 10 Claims. (Cl. 15250.01)

This invention relates to window-cleaning devices and more particularly to devices of the kind which may be operated from one side of a window pane to simultaneously clean both sides thereof.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device of this kind which can be readily detachably and movably fitted on the frame of a window to be cleaned; which will simultaneously spray both sides of a window pane with water or other cleansing fluid and then apply wipers to both sides of the pane to cleanse them, and with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a liquid reservoir or tank having means by which it is detachably and movably mounted on top of a window sash; of fluid spray means in the form of tubes extending from the fluid chamber of the tank and provided with means permitting of their extension, said tubes supplying cleansing fluid in spray form against the opposite faces of the window pane; of means for applying pressure on the contents of the tank to cause fluid spray-ejection from the tubes against the opposite faces of the pane; of means for applying wipers against the spray areas of both faces of the pane, and means for retracting the wipers to a raised or elevated position with a wiping action after each down stroke of the wipers.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a window-washing or cleaning device constructed according to the invention and positioned upon the upper rail of a window sash preparatory to washing and wiping the window pane thereof;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows:

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 44 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates generally a Window, door or other pane-carrying structure, having a pane 2 adapted to be cleansed by the present device. The window, door or the like can be of any known construction and it includes a frame having an upper rail 3 upon which the tank-containing housing 4 of the device is seated and along which it rides during the cleansing operation. Said housing 4 is provided with a chamber 5 within which a supply of water or other cleaning fluid is contained and which fluid is adapted to be ejected and sprayed against the opposite sides of the window pane from a pair of tubes shown respectively at 6 and 7.

In fitting the device over the top rail 3 of av window or door, said part of the window or door is disposed between rollers carried by a pair of clamping jaws shown respectively at 8 and 9. The clamping jaw shown at 9 is pivoted at 10 to the body of the housing 4 below ice the bottom wall 11 thereof. The clamping jaw 8 is pivoted to the housing at 12 and said jaw includes a projecting finger 13 which extends over a pin 14 projecting laterally from the jaw 9. A coil spring 15 has one end attached to a pin 16 extending from one end wall of the housing 4 and has its opposite end attached to the pin 14. The coil spring 15 tends to draw the pin 14 upwardly, thus acting to lift finger 13 also upwardly and hence bring the lower portions of the clamping jaws 3 and 9 toward one another. Each of these jaws 8 and 9 carries a pivoted bracket 17 on which a roller'18 is rotatively mounted, the rollers bearing against the opposite faces of the upper rail 3 and facilitating the smooth travel of the device in successive steps along the rail 3 as required by the cleaning operation.

The device is also supported on the rail 3 by means of the rollers shown at 19, which are rotatively mounted in brackets 20 provided on the opposite end walls 21 of the housing 4.

The elements 13 and 14 of the clamping jaws, and

the spring 15 which is operative to move these elements,

' have been described as being located at one end of the housing 4 but as noted in FIG. 1, these parts are provided at the opposite end also of the housing.

Provided at one end of the housing 4 is a chamber 22, the same being separated from the fluid-containing chamber 5 of the housing by means of a vertical wall or partition 23. Mounted for rotative movement within said chamber 22 is a pair of parallel shafts or rollers indicated respectively at 23 and 24. Each of these shafts or rollers carries gears 25, the gears on one of these shafts being in mesh with those on the other shaft so that rotative movement of one of the shafts or rollers will rotatively move the other.

Wound around the shaft 23 is the flexible hose or tube 7 which has a free or dependent end to which is attached a permanent magnet 27 covered by a wiping element such as a pad, sponge or other absorbent member 28. The shaft or roller 24 similarly receives the flexible hose or tube 6, provided at its free dependent end with a permanent magnet 29 covered by and carrying a wiping element, such as a pad, sponge or other absorbent member 319. This arrangement is such that the magnetic attraction between the magnets 27 and 29 will tend to draw the same toward one another and hence will tend to couple the magnets together with the pane interposed between them, while maintaining the wipers 28 and 39 in constant contact with the opposite faces of the window pane.

One end of the hose or tube 7 is in communication with a longitudinal passage 40 in the shaft 23 as shown at 31 in FIG. 3, while one end of the hose or tube 6 communicates with a similar hollow passage 40 in the shaft 24 as shown at 32. Each of the shafts 23 and 24 has a portion 33 (FIG. 5) projecting into the liquid-containing chamber 5 of the housing so that when air pressure is applied to the liquid contents of the chambers, the liquid will be forced therefrom and through the tubes 6 and 7 for spray ejection against the opposite faces of the win--v The tubes.

press the same, air pressure will be imposed on the fluid.

in the chamber 5 and the fluid will be forced through the passages 40 in both of the shafts 23 and 24 to reach the tubes 6 and 7 and pass therethrough to be ejected out of It is obvious thatthe spray openings 33a against the opposite faces of the window pane.

Each of the shafts or rollers 23 and 24 is supported at one end by a spindle 38 which is fixedly mounted by its flange 39 on one of the end walls 21 of the housing 4. Extending around the spindle 38 is a torsional spring 46:: having one end attached to the shaft 23 (or 24) and its opposite end attached to the flange 39. These springs 40a are wind-up springs tending to wind the tubes 6 and 7 around the shafts 23 and 24 and elevate the wipers 28 and 30 and the magnets 27 and 29 in the manner to be now explained.

'From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readily understood. When it is desired to clean a window, the device is fitted on the upper rail 3 of the window as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. This is done by spreading the clamping jaws 8 and 9 slightly to enable the top rail of the window frame to fit between the rollers 18. I'Ihe rollers 19 come to rest on the top edge of the rail 3.

Work is started at one end of the pane and one of the magnets and its accompanying pad or wiper are manually moved downwardly while the bulb 34 is squeezed to cause the liquid to be sprayed against the opposite faces of the pane during the downward or descending movement of the wipers. It will be understood that the magnetic attraction between the magnets 27 and 29 will cause both of the magnets and their accompanying wipers 23 and 30 to be moved downwardly together so that both surfaces of the pane will be sprayed through the efforts of an operator squeezing the bulb 34 and working from the inner side of the window pane.

While the pads or wipers and their magnets are being moved downwardly, energy is being stored in the springs 40a so that when the bottom of the pane is reached by the wipers and the manual downward pull on the wipers is released, the pads and magnets will then be drawn upwardly by the springs 49a, the pads during such upward movement applying a wiping action on the opposite sides of the pane and over the sprayed areas thereof until the pads or wipers reach the upper end of the pane, thereby cleaning the same from the bottom to the top.

The device is then horizontally shifted along the upper rail 3, its supporting rollers facilitating such movement and the procedure above described is repeated. That is to say, the wipers are moved downwardly while the pane is being sprayed, and are then released to permit the wipers to be raised by the action of the springs 48a to thereby wipe the sprayed portions of the pane. This is repeated until the entire area of the window is cleaned.

1 he wipers or pads are preferably removably fitted over the magnets and can be removed for cleaning or replacement as required. The chamber can be filled with water or other cleaning liquid by the removal of the tube 35 or a separate filler opening can be provided.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures com ing within the scope of the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A window-cleaning device comprising, a tank having a chamber containing a washing fluid, means for movably mounting the tank on the frame of a window containing a pane to be cleaned, a pair of rollers mounted on the tank, a tube wound around each roller and communicating through its roller with the fluid chamber, means for forcing fluid out of the chamber and through the tubes, each tube having a portion dependent from its roller, each dependent portion carrying a magnet and a wiping element with such wiping elements disposed respectively on opposite sides of the pane and the magnets being attractive to one another through the pane, and means for biasing the roliers to cause them to tend to elevate the dependent ends of the tubes to thereby bring the wipers in the direction of the tank.

2. A window-cleaning device comprising, a Washingfluid supply tank, means for movably mounting the same upon the top of a window frame, a pair of rotative shafts, gearing by which a rotative movement of one of the shafts will cause rotative movement of the other shaft, a flexible tube wound around each of the shafts and connected at one end to the interior of the shaft, the interiors of both of the shafts being in communication with the interior of the fluid-supply tank, means for applying pressure to the tank contents to thereby cause the same to flow through the tubes, the tubes being disposed on opposite sides of the window pane and each of said tubes having a spray opening through which the fluid is ejected against the window pane, a wiper at the end of each tube, a magnet carried by the end of each tube, the magnets co-operating to maintain the wipers against the opposite sides of the pane, and spring means operative on the shafts to rotate the same and wind the tubes thereon and thereby lift the wipers and magnets from the lower part of the pane to the top thereof.

3. A window-cleaning device comprising, a liquid reservoir having means by which it is movably and detachably mounted on the top of a window sash, fluid spray means comprising flexible tubes in communication at one end with the interior of the reservoir to supply cleaning fluid against the opposite faces of the pane of the sash, means for forcing fluid from the reservoir and through the tubes, the tubes having spray openings for directing the fluid against the opposite faces of the window pane, magnets carried by the tubes, the magnets being disposed on the opposite sides of the window pane and being magnetically attracted to one another, and wipers carried by the magnets and brought against the opposite faces of the window pane by the magnetic attraction between the magnets.

4. A window-cleaning device as provided for in claim 3, wherein the tubes are wound on rotative shafts, the shafts carrying gear means by which rotative movement of one of the shafts is imparted to the other shaft, and spring means for rotating the shafts in one direction to wind the tubes thereon and thus elevate the wipers after the wipers have been moved to the bottom of the pane and then released.

5. A window-cleaning device as provided for in claim 3, wherein the tubes are wound upon shafts which have longitudinal fluid passages extending through them, the tubes being connected at one end to said passages, said passages being in communication with the interior of the fluid reservoir, and the means for forcing the fluid from the reservoir and through the passages and tubes connected thereto consisting of a tube connected at one end to the tank and connected at its opposite end to a compressible bulb.

6. A window-cleaning device comprising, a liquid reservoir having clamping means including rollers by which it is movably and detachably mounted on the top of a window sash, fluid spray means comprising flexible tubes wound upon spring-biased shafts and in communication at one end with the interior of the reservoir to supply cleaning fluid against the opposite faces of a pane in said sash, air-pressure means for forcing fluid from the reservoir and through the tubes and against the window pane, the tubes having spray openings for directing the fluid against the opposite faces of the pane, magnets carried by the tubes at their ends, the magnets being disposed on the opposite sides of the pane and being magnetically attracted to one another, and wipers fitted around and carried by the magnets and brought against the opposite faces of the pane by the magnetic attraction between the magnets.

7. A window-cleaning device as provided for in claim 6, wherein the spring-biasing of the shafts is effective to cause winding-up of the tubes on their respective shafts after the wipers have been moved to the bottom of the pane and have been released.

8. A window-cleaning device comprising, a liquid reservoir having means by which it is mounted on top of a window sash and is capable of travel along the top of the sash, fluid spray means comprising flexible tubes in comrnunication at one end with the interior of the reservoir, means for extending the effective length of the tubes to thereby supply cleaning fluid against the opposite faces of a Window pane for the height of the pane, an air bulb connected to the reservoir for causing fluid to be forced therefrom and for causing the ejection of such fluid from the tubes and against the pane, the tubes having spray openings facing the opposite sides of the pane for directing the ejected fluid against said opposite faces, magnets carried by the tubes at the ends of the same, the magnets being disposed with the pane located between them and the magnets being magnetically attracted to one another, wipers carried by the magnets and brought against the opposite faces of the window pane by the magnetic attraction between the magnets, and spring means for retracting the tubes in a direction toward the reservoir by the development of energy in said spring means by the movement of the wipers toward the lower end of the window pane.

9. A window-cleaning device comprising, a fluid-holding tank mounted on the upper end of a paned window sash, rollers mounted on the tank and resting against the top and sides of the upper rail of the sash, a pair of rotative shafts mounted in the tank, gears carried by the shafts for causing rotative movement of one of the shafts when the other shaft is rotated, a tube wound around each shaft, each tube having a dependent end portion provided with a spray opening, the end portion of one of the tubes being disposed on one side of the window pane and the end portion of the other tube being disposed at the opposite side of the pane, each tube carrying a magnet at its end, the magnets being magnetically attractive toward one another to thereby position them respectively against the opposite sides of the pane and thereby magnetically couple the ends of the tubes together so that movement of one tube will cause movement of the other, a wiper carried by each magnet and in contact with the surfaces of the pane, each of the shafts having a fluid passage in it, such passages being in communication with the interior of the tank and also being connected to the tubes, means for applying pressure on the fluid contents of the tank to thereby force such fluid through the tubes and out of the spray openings therein and against the opposite faces of the pane, the shafts being rotatable to permit the tubes to be drawn from them to move the wipers downwardly across the pane, and spring means for biasing the shafts and effective to retract the tubes and thus draw the wipers in one direction against the faces of the pane and over the sprayed areas thereof.

10. A window-cleaning device comprising, a fluid-holding tank and means for fitting it on a window frame, apertured spray tubes dependent from the tank on the opposite sides of a pane in the window frame, take-up means for the tubes for drawing the same across the pane in one direction, wipers carried by the tubes, means for maintaining the wipers against the opposite faces of the pane, and controllable means for forcing fluid out of the tank and through the tubes and out of the apertures therein and against the opposite sides of the pane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

10. A WINDOW-CLEANING DEVICE COMPRISING, A FLUID-HOLDING TANK AND MEANS FOR FITTING IT ON A WINDOW FRAME, APERTURED SPRAY TUBES DEPENDENT FROM THE TANK ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF A PANE IN THE WINDOW FRAME, TAKE-UP MEANS FOR THE TUBES FOR DRAWING THE SAME ACROSS THE PANE IN ONE DIRECTION, WIPERS CARRIED BY THE TUBES, MEANS FOR MAINTAINING THE WIPERS AGAINST THE OPPOSITE FACES OF THE PANE, AND CONTROLLABLE MEANS FOR FORCING FLUID OUT OF THE TANK AND THROUGH THE TUBES AND OUT OF THE APERTURES THEREIN AND AGAINST THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PANE. 